Absolutely, my best VP play was at the Cosmopolitan with their sign up bonus. They offered to give back in freeplay the loss of $100 to any new sign up. It took me a while to get the real sense of this and I was afraid that there was a loophole.
The way it was first explained, I thought that were I to win $60, then that would count against my $100 loss, but actually it just worked that if I won $60 I needed to play that down to zero in order to get the freeplay.
I knew the trick here was to play a high volatility game for the first hundred. I actually considered two spins on a $25 two coin slot. But that seemed a bit too volatile. Still, it was tempting. When else would I ever do that?
I was looking really for a $5 slot when I came across a double double bonus spin poker machine. It was 25 cents but max play would be 15 lines and about $19 a spin. Okay, that seemed good.
It played more like a slot because I could not really follow more than the three lines I could see. I was down to $83 when I started to hit.
I was dealt a straight and then a flush, but I am not sure if that is such a good thing when most of the line bend. I seemed to do best with a pair of 6's that went somewhere into quads. I was breathless when I had three to the royal. No hits there.
I would be content to double up, but I kicked up into about $268 and so I used my normal technique when I play just $20. I would stop either at $200 or $300. Then I was kicked to about $340 so I reset my stop numbers to $300 or $400. No more big hits. I cashed out at $301. So I did not need freeplay.
Had I lost and used the freeplay, I'd have then gone to low volatility and just run the freeplay through once.
As it was in less than ten minutes I had pocketed $201 bucks and was on my way to see Sin City Comedy.
**********************************************************************
During my free days at the Orleans I put a good bit of play on the nickle triple play with progressive royals. At one point one of the royals was up to $580. I was hoping. But I lost money there. Since my live poker play is becoming stronger, and the Orleans is tough to access on the bus for just two free nights, and downtown is so much easier, I may just drop that play and put the bankroll into my favorite game of 10/7 DB at the Four Queens where it generates 3 free nights and this trip gave me 3 in october and 3 in November, both on weekends and added a free slot tournament with two free breakfasts, $50 in food, and $120 in freeplay which I played through once and cashed out for $260. Pretty good for free. The Orleans does nothing for me like that.
Also, I found that for the days I don't play VP, but stick just with live poker, I can extend my stay at the Four Queens by getting a poker rate from Binions of $24 a night and those nights will not show up on my Four Queens computation of play or reduce a daily average.
So I could go for a week, hit the 10/7 DB progressive hard for the three free days they give me, and then play only poker over the next 4 days.
Nice for avoiding check in and check out.
I also seeded the Fitzgerald's this trip, playing the Vue Bar 8/5 DB progressive and actually hitting the quads twice when they were up $20 extra. That casino is being sold, but I hope that my play will generate from free room offers.
Checking in and checking out from Ftizgerald's to 4 Queens is a short crossing of a tiny street.
The 10/7 DB is just a great play. The royal progressive was up to $1100 plus most of the time I played. Sadly there was no royal for me, but I did have one day when the quads seemed to be as free as pairs. I loved it. Overall, I guess I lost money.
It is hard to measure.
I played some Megabucks there as well. Not much, but I figure it presents me as a mixed player.
They gave me $35 in cashback, I ate good both trips, and I covered those expensive weekend rates with free rooms. One time I stayed in the South Tower and another in North Tower and both were just fine. They arranged for quiet in each place, but the South was quieter. Still neither kept me awake.
That is another problem with going to the Orleans. If I am staying anywhere downtown, I can walk to the 4 Queens without luggage and negotiate a room. I can wait until what I want comes available and then go get my luggage. If I lug my luggage from the Orleans by bus to the Four Queens, then I want to get a room it they have one, whether it is my first choice or not.
Lucky Pete from Florida took a good bit of money from that 10/7 DB while he was here with the Silver Strikers. He just seemed to hit the quads easily. It was great to hang with him a bit, and his buddy John. We all ate on my $50 free food and he gave Wild Bill a ride down from the Orleans a couple days later. I love Lucky Pete. He is such a good hearted character. I saw the new $300 silver strike issue while I was there and heard plenty of stories as well.
The new $10 coins have no silver in them. The new large coins have a bit of silver, but it is not like the old days.
I played a bit of VP at Sam's Town, but I could not remember the Deuces strategy well enough to feel comfortable. I played the coin dropper 10/7 DB near Friday's and broke even. I did not play much, but I don't worry about playing light there because Sam's does not send me much in the way of free rooms anyway.
If I decide to get serious up that way, I'm going for the old fashioned machines in the classic area of Eastside Cannery. For a while they sent me a free night and often there is a $30 a night senior citizen deal. With the new Boulder buses I'd be tempted to stay out there for a couple nights and play poker. Monday would be my favorite as the Claudine Castro Band on Monday performs a great Latino Act. For the price of a couple of $1.50 local Eastside Cannery microbrews, this is one of my favorite music venues in Vegas.
http://www.executiveservers.com/claudinecastro-com/
I watched Wild Bill play in many places. He is just beginning to get the strategy. I would stand behind him with my sheets in hand and coach. He just rolls his eyes when I say things like, "Okay there is one Ace, if there is a offsuit ten, you play her by herself, but if the ten is suited, you pick up the other face card with her, unless, of course, there are no penalty cards 5 or under to toss away. If there are no wheel penalty cards, you just play that Ace alone hoping the wheel will come."
Well, with 23 days in Vegas I have to do something besides put my own money at risk. Watching Bill play is just as much fun as using my own money.
Wild Bill liked going with me this time because I had so much free food. Four days into the trip he looked at me in amazement and said, "We've been here for 4 days and I've only spent $11 on food!"
And that was it on the VP this trip. I played none at El Cortez. I was mad at them.
Extra $25 a night for any nights after 7!
Dumbest thing I ever heard!
Well, they pushed me down to the Gold Spike, and I've found my new downtown home. Nothing to play there, but the rooms, heated pool, free wifi, and TCM television are all great. And even with the stupid resort fee, their rates rock. The hotel manager sent me a nice note asking me to spread the word and to come back.
I hit no royals, but had many close calls. I hit Aces and Deuces and Fours in a single day of play. I missed playing $20 for a free Black Chip Porter at Main Street Station. It seems odd to say that 23 days is not enough to do everything, but I was never thirsty for beer when I went to Main Street Station, but just went in for some free buffet with raspberry tea.
I caught one straight flush, holding just three cards. Jacks were my most regular quads.
I caught no quad Deuces when I played that game or in the live poker either.
9/6 JOB GONE AT ELLIS ISLAND
Well, another good play is gone. The JOB is down to 8/5 and so unplayable. Too bad.
I used up the last $3 of my food comps and now I'll just go to eat and then not at regular eating hours because there is nothing to entertain me while I wait.
CROWNE AND ANCHOR
One of my weakest plays was at the Crowne and Anchor bar out by the Pinball Hall of Fame on Tropicana. They offer a free lunch for $20 played through the bar VP. The paytables are not great, but the rules are clear. One must play the $20 through at least once, 15 hands of full play.
I loved the waitress, loved the lamb stew in bread, loved the bread itself, and loved the beer. I was allowed to taste three beers before picking my free one.
Blues played while I ate and I enjoyed the entire ambiance.
So I played on as I ate, thinking I'd quit when I was even, and I lost $100. Suckered in and fleeced. Rare for frugal me. Had I stuck to the rules I would have lost about $10.
So I only recommend this lunch deal only to those with discipline in the face of just wonderful atmosphere.
And the worst of it is that in retrospect I don't regret it. That's how I know they really had me.
The way it was first explained, I thought that were I to win $60, then that would count against my $100 loss, but actually it just worked that if I won $60 I needed to play that down to zero in order to get the freeplay.
I knew the trick here was to play a high volatility game for the first hundred. I actually considered two spins on a $25 two coin slot. But that seemed a bit too volatile. Still, it was tempting. When else would I ever do that?
I was looking really for a $5 slot when I came across a double double bonus spin poker machine. It was 25 cents but max play would be 15 lines and about $19 a spin. Okay, that seemed good.
It played more like a slot because I could not really follow more than the three lines I could see. I was down to $83 when I started to hit.
I was dealt a straight and then a flush, but I am not sure if that is such a good thing when most of the line bend. I seemed to do best with a pair of 6's that went somewhere into quads. I was breathless when I had three to the royal. No hits there.
I would be content to double up, but I kicked up into about $268 and so I used my normal technique when I play just $20. I would stop either at $200 or $300. Then I was kicked to about $340 so I reset my stop numbers to $300 or $400. No more big hits. I cashed out at $301. So I did not need freeplay.
Had I lost and used the freeplay, I'd have then gone to low volatility and just run the freeplay through once.
As it was in less than ten minutes I had pocketed $201 bucks and was on my way to see Sin City Comedy.
**********************************************************************
During my free days at the Orleans I put a good bit of play on the nickle triple play with progressive royals. At one point one of the royals was up to $580. I was hoping. But I lost money there. Since my live poker play is becoming stronger, and the Orleans is tough to access on the bus for just two free nights, and downtown is so much easier, I may just drop that play and put the bankroll into my favorite game of 10/7 DB at the Four Queens where it generates 3 free nights and this trip gave me 3 in october and 3 in November, both on weekends and added a free slot tournament with two free breakfasts, $50 in food, and $120 in freeplay which I played through once and cashed out for $260. Pretty good for free. The Orleans does nothing for me like that.
Also, I found that for the days I don't play VP, but stick just with live poker, I can extend my stay at the Four Queens by getting a poker rate from Binions of $24 a night and those nights will not show up on my Four Queens computation of play or reduce a daily average.
So I could go for a week, hit the 10/7 DB progressive hard for the three free days they give me, and then play only poker over the next 4 days.
Nice for avoiding check in and check out.
I also seeded the Fitzgerald's this trip, playing the Vue Bar 8/5 DB progressive and actually hitting the quads twice when they were up $20 extra. That casino is being sold, but I hope that my play will generate from free room offers.
Checking in and checking out from Ftizgerald's to 4 Queens is a short crossing of a tiny street.
The 10/7 DB is just a great play. The royal progressive was up to $1100 plus most of the time I played. Sadly there was no royal for me, but I did have one day when the quads seemed to be as free as pairs. I loved it. Overall, I guess I lost money.
It is hard to measure.
I played some Megabucks there as well. Not much, but I figure it presents me as a mixed player.
They gave me $35 in cashback, I ate good both trips, and I covered those expensive weekend rates with free rooms. One time I stayed in the South Tower and another in North Tower and both were just fine. They arranged for quiet in each place, but the South was quieter. Still neither kept me awake.
That is another problem with going to the Orleans. If I am staying anywhere downtown, I can walk to the 4 Queens without luggage and negotiate a room. I can wait until what I want comes available and then go get my luggage. If I lug my luggage from the Orleans by bus to the Four Queens, then I want to get a room it they have one, whether it is my first choice or not.
Lucky Pete from Florida took a good bit of money from that 10/7 DB while he was here with the Silver Strikers. He just seemed to hit the quads easily. It was great to hang with him a bit, and his buddy John. We all ate on my $50 free food and he gave Wild Bill a ride down from the Orleans a couple days later. I love Lucky Pete. He is such a good hearted character. I saw the new $300 silver strike issue while I was there and heard plenty of stories as well.
The new $10 coins have no silver in them. The new large coins have a bit of silver, but it is not like the old days.
I played a bit of VP at Sam's Town, but I could not remember the Deuces strategy well enough to feel comfortable. I played the coin dropper 10/7 DB near Friday's and broke even. I did not play much, but I don't worry about playing light there because Sam's does not send me much in the way of free rooms anyway.
If I decide to get serious up that way, I'm going for the old fashioned machines in the classic area of Eastside Cannery. For a while they sent me a free night and often there is a $30 a night senior citizen deal. With the new Boulder buses I'd be tempted to stay out there for a couple nights and play poker. Monday would be my favorite as the Claudine Castro Band on Monday performs a great Latino Act. For the price of a couple of $1.50 local Eastside Cannery microbrews, this is one of my favorite music venues in Vegas.
http://www.executiveservers.com/claudinecastro-com/
I watched Wild Bill play in many places. He is just beginning to get the strategy. I would stand behind him with my sheets in hand and coach. He just rolls his eyes when I say things like, "Okay there is one Ace, if there is a offsuit ten, you play her by herself, but if the ten is suited, you pick up the other face card with her, unless, of course, there are no penalty cards 5 or under to toss away. If there are no wheel penalty cards, you just play that Ace alone hoping the wheel will come."
Well, with 23 days in Vegas I have to do something besides put my own money at risk. Watching Bill play is just as much fun as using my own money.
Wild Bill liked going with me this time because I had so much free food. Four days into the trip he looked at me in amazement and said, "We've been here for 4 days and I've only spent $11 on food!"
And that was it on the VP this trip. I played none at El Cortez. I was mad at them.
Extra $25 a night for any nights after 7!
Dumbest thing I ever heard!
Well, they pushed me down to the Gold Spike, and I've found my new downtown home. Nothing to play there, but the rooms, heated pool, free wifi, and TCM television are all great. And even with the stupid resort fee, their rates rock. The hotel manager sent me a nice note asking me to spread the word and to come back.
I hit no royals, but had many close calls. I hit Aces and Deuces and Fours in a single day of play. I missed playing $20 for a free Black Chip Porter at Main Street Station. It seems odd to say that 23 days is not enough to do everything, but I was never thirsty for beer when I went to Main Street Station, but just went in for some free buffet with raspberry tea.
I caught one straight flush, holding just three cards. Jacks were my most regular quads.
I caught no quad Deuces when I played that game or in the live poker either.
9/6 JOB GONE AT ELLIS ISLAND
Well, another good play is gone. The JOB is down to 8/5 and so unplayable. Too bad.
I used up the last $3 of my food comps and now I'll just go to eat and then not at regular eating hours because there is nothing to entertain me while I wait.
CROWNE AND ANCHOR
One of my weakest plays was at the Crowne and Anchor bar out by the Pinball Hall of Fame on Tropicana. They offer a free lunch for $20 played through the bar VP. The paytables are not great, but the rules are clear. One must play the $20 through at least once, 15 hands of full play.
I loved the waitress, loved the lamb stew in bread, loved the bread itself, and loved the beer. I was allowed to taste three beers before picking my free one.
Blues played while I ate and I enjoyed the entire ambiance.
So I played on as I ate, thinking I'd quit when I was even, and I lost $100. Suckered in and fleeced. Rare for frugal me. Had I stuck to the rules I would have lost about $10.
So I only recommend this lunch deal only to those with discipline in the face of just wonderful atmosphere.
And the worst of it is that in retrospect I don't regret it. That's how I know they really had me.
4 comments:
Hi Dewey - great report, thanks for sharing.
I know you are mad at the elco, however, since you love downtown so much I think you need to put them back into your rotation.
Even with minimal play every month you will get 3 free rooms, $25 free play, 5x points for 1 day, and $25 food credit. Also got a coupon for a free bottle of wine at the flame at check in.
Even if you do not use the room, the other perks are well worth playing a few rolls of quarters there.
Another tip - if you time your trip at the end of the month, start of the new month (I went from the 23rd of Oct until the 7th of November), you can "double dip" them by using 1 promo in Oct, and 1 in Nov - or whatever 2 months you are there. That's a total of $50 food, $50 free play.
Like I said, even if you do not stay there take advantage of their offers.
That is a fine deal, but it is not free. You pay for it. You have to count it as paying for a room or for food or for play.
El Cabana rooms were $60 out of pocket a night.
Four Queens rooms are free and the freeplay is free and the freefood is free. Nothing is out of pocket. I added one night for $24 for convenience.
Gold Spike rooms were $20 a night and I got free heated pool, free wifi, TCM on television, a fine, comfortable room, incredible service (with every room inspected after cleaning before it is allowed to be rented.)
And they booked whatever I asked.
I paid $7 for a prime rib, less for a pancake breakfast and had a cheap grilled cheese. I stayed there 6 nights.
And no restriction on booking as long as I wanted so my bookings could be made and then flexed around free mailers.
It was just great to be in a heated pool at 8AM.
Solo, I can't eat the EC food kickback amounts of food. I ate these 23 days for $7 a day on average.
Why pay $25 a day and force myself to eat more than I need or want?
I like downtown fine, and I like the El Cortez poker room, but I realize that the best time to play there is after midnight and most of the guys I used to love there are gone, replaces by serious and grumpy old men.
I ate one free meal on my left over EC points and a $5 poker room comp. It was great prime rib.
Other days I ate other ways.
EC VP with decent pay tables only gives that. Both Main Street Station and the four Queens add a sweetener to the play beyond full pay tables.
The Flame is great, but solo I don't need it. The tip is more than I pay to eat on average for two days. The last time I used the free wine coupon they screwed up the bill and charged me at checkout for the free wine. I got some of it taken off. Not all.
And all the drinks I drink in Vegas are free. These 23 days I only paid $3 for two beers at Eastside Cannery to see two sets of the lounge act. And I drank plenty.
Let the El Cortez go upscale. I'm not down with it.
Hey, thanks for the comment.
Oh, I gave them more than minimal play in May and for this last trip they gave me one free night. I was a bit surprised at that.
So I did not see the comps others talk about. But then I only play advantage games with any amount of cash.
In the old days I would play 1000 points a day and stop. They would send me two free rooms over three nights. And VP counted the same for points as slots.
Those were the days.
And I'm still mad about being jerked around this past time with confirmed reservations not honored days later and long conversations with the hotel manager going no where. I spent hours with those issues and all for nothing. I just did not know that the Gold Spike had a much better product right down the street. Screw them. See if they are happy reading about their new invention of a waiting in the bushes resort fee in the 2012 edition of the American Casino Guide.
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